Links to

Religious Orders

To explore a link further, click on its image below.

Here is the  Vatican home page which contains links to the Holy Father, the Roman Curia, News Services, Vatican CityState, the Library/Secret Archives, and the Vatican Museums.  The Vatican Museums are deservedly one of the finest in the world.  Planning a trip to Rome?  Check out this site for days and times when the Vatican Museums are open.

By many, this website of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, is considered to be one of the most beautiful religious web sites.  The artwork is spectacular.  It is the product of a group of Benedictine monks who live in the high desert in northern New Mexico.  It is a "must" visit, a chance to partake in the deep spirituality of these holy men.

St. Benedict, 480 C.E. to 547 C.E., was not the founder of Christian monasticism, since he lived two and a half to three centuries after its beginnings in Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor.  He became a monk as a young man and thereafter learned the tradition by associating with monks and reading the monastic literature.  He was caught up in the monastic movement but ended by channeling the stream into new and fruitful ways.  This is evident in the Rule that he wrote for monasteries and which was and is still used in many monasteries and convents around the word.  Visit the Benedictine Order to learn more of what it has to offer.

The modern Roman Catholic missionary leaves home to discover God in foreign countries and among peoples of different racial or ethnic backgrounds.  In sharing his or her faith in Jesus, a missionary also learns respect for other religions.  In helping the sick, the poor, and the oppressed, a missionary defends human dignity.  With the Gospel as our guide, Maryknoll missioners invite all peoples to join together in building a better world of holiness, justice, and peace.

Early in February 1522, a pilgrim set out from his family's stronghouse in the rugged Basque mountains of northern Spain.  He limped eastwards toward the Holy Land at the start of a journey that continues today.  This pilgrim was Inigo Lopez de Loyola.  He is better known today as St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.  The story of how he came to begin his pilgrimage and where it eventually took him has become a model for members of the religious order he helped found as well as for countless other pilgrims.  Here is your chance to start your journey with him.

They are right in our back yard--the Dominican Contemplative nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park.  Here is the link to their website, where you can learn something about their daily life, history, and spirituality.